I think we've had this same back and forth dozens of time before but, to clarify for Tim, the problem with attempting to write an importer for scenes from max, maya, xsi, houdini, etc, is that the files are just a bunch of operators, their connections, and their parameter values. you can't do much of anything with that in another app without understanding and emulating all of these operators.
The best thing to do is to bake this stuff down in XSI first and export it to an intermediate format. You need a long term asset storage strategy, leaving all the stuff you need only in .scn is not a good idea. XSI sometimes cannot even load its own scene back if there is a plugin missing. On 2 June 2015 at 17:58, Matt Lind <[email protected]> wrote: > Having file specs only gets you part of the way. You still need to write an > importer/exporter to move the data around. The only thing that could be > gained at this point is exposure to critical data that isn't accessible in > the SDK. There isn't much you can't touch in the SDK. If memory serves > from my experience trying the compound file viewer, the .emdl and .scn file > formats didn't look very different from what you see in the scene explorer. > Mostly just data packed in encrypted ways to be be more efficient on disc. > > I have been working on an exporter to export from Softimage|3D and import > into Softimage|XSI using my own file format as the medium to exchange > information. I have used a similar file format for many years to move > between newer/older versions of XSI so data is version independent. Most of > the file format is structured as you see it in the scene explorer, with some > exceptions. Works for most applications. > > The real question is - what exactly needs to be exported, and where does the > data need to go? > > Matt > > > > > > > > Date: Tue, 2 Jun 2015 20:11:39 +0000 > From: Angus Davidson <[email protected]> > Subject: RE: Writing custom loaders for .emdl and .scn files in other > apps > To: "[email protected]" > <[email protected]> > > > Maybe now that Soft is EOL, the best goodwill gesture from Autodesk would be > to actually release the file specs. It serves the purpose for them of > allowing people a way forward without having to try and convert decades of > stored assets. The digital version of closure. > >
